Release Date: July 20, 2012
Studio: Warner Brothers
Director: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Marion Cotillard, Morgan Freeman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Gary Oldman, and Michael Caine.
Plot: Eight years after Batman took the fall for Two Face’s crimes, a new terrorist leader, Bane, overwhelms Gotham’s finest, and the Dark Knight resurfaces to protect a city that has branded him an enemy. (via IMDB)

Thoughts: Well the end is in sight for a journey that began eight years ago and is arguably one of the greatest cinematic trilogies of all time. Christopher Nolan’s Batman franchise took comic book movies to a new level. Placing the character in the real world and giving the characters and story that sense of realism that could make you believe that this could actually happen. The Dark Knight Rises is shaping up to be THE movie of 2012.

The Dark Knight Rises, like it predecessors, boast an impressive cast. Joining the returning Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine are Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Marion Cotillard and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I think out of three films, this cast seems to be the best by far. Nolan has said that he didn’t want to save anything from this movie and this looks like it. While not a lot is known officially about the story, that hasn’t stopped the fanboys and internet writers from speculating.

From the trailers and other footage that’s been released, It seems like Nolan is sticking true to his word. There’s already a sense of epicness to this and a feeling that this will easily top anything that’s been done in the two previous films. Hardy and Hathaway look impressive as Bane and Selena Kyle/Catwoman. I like the fact that the film is set quite a while after the events of The Dark Knight. (8 years is official figure I keep hearing). Not only is this a great story setting but this could be a great move for Warner Brothers. With Nolan definitively stating this is the last Batman film he is directing. It’s been rumoured that he will be on the reboot as a producer much like his role on next years Superman Reboot “Man Of Steel”.

If that is the case, this reboot or next series of films could take place in those eight years. Bale has recently said he would up for a fourth film if the story is right- but we’ll have to wait and see. The Dark Knight Rises will be giving an epic conclusion to this wonderful journey and I think it will be the best movie of the summer. I’ve seen The Avengers and loved it, but I just think that TDKR will be better. Nolan hasn’t let us down yet and I think he will be able to top everything else we’ve seen. Either way, July 20^th can’t come quick enough for this Bat-Fan.

Here’s a category that’s had a front runner since before the film even came out. I think it’s the only category this year with an absolute shoe in for the award.

• Josh Brolin for Milk
• Robert Downey Jr. for Tropic Thunder
• Philip Seymour Hoffman for Doubt
• Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight
• Michael Shannon for Revolutionary Road

Prediction:

Heath Ledger. No explanation necessary.

What Should Win:
How many people would freak out if I didn’t say Heath here? I’m not going to, but I’m just curious. Heath should definitely posthumously take this award, though I’ve said before that I wish I could have known how his performance would have been received if it wasn’t for his untimely death. My biggest beef was with who did and didn’t get nominated with Heath, and my second viewing of Milk hasn’t changed my mind that I wish Franco was up there instead of Brolin.

In honor of tonight’s Academy Awards, I’ve decided that this week’s Pit will be Oscar themed! First off, don’t forget to check out the list of nominees for tonight’s show, and I hope that you have been enjoying Phasekitty’s reviews of all of the nominated flicks.

• What films should take home which awards based on past years? Filmjerk makes their annual Oscar Handicap lists. (Filmjerk)

• This year, The Dark Knight got snubbed for Best Picture and Best Director, but what are the best “Nerd” films that have gotten snubbed by the Academy in the past? (Topless Robot)

• Tonight, either Slumdog Millionaire, Frost/Nixon, Milk, The Reader, or The Curious Case of Benjamin Button will take home the Best Picture award. Before you make your prediction, you might want to check out this list of all the past winners. (Oscars)

• Just because they have been nominated for an Oscar (and in some cases have won), doesn’t mean that these stars haven’t appeared in absolutely humiliating Japanese commercials. This is too funny! (Cracked)

Enjoy the show tonight!

Before I break it down film by film, here are some of my initial, knee jerk reactions to the Oscar nominations this year:

First and foremost, this year has been a major disappointment to me for one movie: The Wrestler. This was by far the best movie I saw this year and it is being largely ignored. Not only do I feel that it should have been up for Best Picture, but more importantly Darren Aronofsky deserved a Best Director nod for it as well. I have yet to watch anything this year that impressed me as much as that film did in directing, writing, and acting. I do believe that Mickey will win and deserves the Oscar, but I’m pretty disappointed in the academy for not giving Aronofsky credit for his best work to date. And what is up with the song category? Did they pair it down to three nominees so that we won’t have to sit through 5 live performances during the ceremony? Because I kind of like the performances. Either way, Bruce Springsteen got screwed out of a nomination and that bugs me.

Despite this glaring omission, I do have to hand it to the Academy for giving just one (deserved) nomination to Revolutionary Road, for leaving Doubt out of the Best Picture and Director races, and for shutting out Gran Torino altogether- all were movies that were overly hyped and really just not that great. The nominations for Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Meryl Streep’s incredibly over the top performances in Doubt are disappointing, but expected.

Let’s talk about supporting actors. I love Robert Downey Jr., but his nomination for Tropic Thunder is out of place. I expect that sort of thing from the Globes, but not the Oscars. While RDJ was certainly the standout performance in that film, I can think of plenty of other actors whose performances deserve this spot just off the top of my head: James Franco (Milk), Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight), Viggo Mortensen (Appaloosa). There are a ton of performances that would suit this category better than “the dude playing a dude disguised as another dude.” Even if they would inevitably lose it to Heath, it’s still nice to get the recognition.

A few more things:

• It’s nice to see The Dark Knight get all the technical nominations, even though it didn’t make it into the big categories. Despite how you feel about big, action super hero films, no one can deny the fact that technically, it’s a fantastically made film.

• I love the surprise acting nominations this year- Michael Shannon brings a brief breath of life to Revolutionary Road and while I haven’t yet seen The Visitor, who doesn’t adore Richard Jenkins?

• Angelina and Brad’s nods seem like a ploy to keep them front and center, in case anyone forgot that Hollywood adores them. What a waste of two perfectly good nominations.

• I’m not usually as surprised by the score nominations as I was this year. It’ll likely go to Slumdog, but I also expected to see Changeling and Revolutionary Road in this category. And I don’t recall a single note of Milk’s score- I would have liked to see one of those two movies in its place instead.

How do you feel about this year’s nominations?

This video from College Humor is too awesome not to post. If anyone knows of more hysterical videos like this one, feel free to send them to us through our contact form.

“I think that this franchise has shown that it doesn’t have to bring back characters. I mean, there’s still Catwoman. I’ve heard Angelina Jolie really wants to do Catwoman; I think that’s a fantastic idea. I’ll be a happy audience member this time.”

AICN’s Beaks talked to Aaron Eckhart at the press junket for Alan Ball’s “Towelhead” and he had some very interesting things to say about both his character Harvey Dent/Two-Face and some possible details on the next Batman film.Have you heard that Angelina Jolie wants to be Catwoman in Nolan’s next Batman film? Because I hadn’t heard that. Sounds like some insider info to me. And while I absolutely hate Jolie, I think she is perfect for the hooker turned criminal turned crimefighter who wears some very tight spandex.

Read the rest of the mini interview for all of Eckhart’s comments here (spoilers for “The Dark Knight”).

With the success of The Dark Knight, its only natural that a lot of people would want to either mimic the scarred look of Two-Face for a new villain or even shoot their own Batman fan film. The backyard effects specialists at Indy Mogul show us how to create chemical burns. Watch it online and you can check out more of Indy Mogul’s how to videos and their weekly shows here.